Warren County R-III Superintendent Dr. Gregg Klinginsmith said the district recently joined a lawsuit against the State of Missouri as they feel a recently passed bill is unconstitutional.

The district recently joined as a plaintiff in the case entitled Alois Kirchofer vs. State of Missouri and involves a challenge to Senate Bill 3, which was passed during a special legislative session of the Missouri General Assembly in June.

The bill, which included provisions for funding professional sports stadiums, includes a new homestead property tax credit, which divides counties into those with a tax freeze, tax cap or no restrictions at all, according to the lawsuit.

The plaintiffs in the case assert that the delineation of counties into the differing tax categories is “arbitrary” and counties are not classified according to “any objective measure or rational means.”

The plaintiffs further assert that the classification of counties under the bill is unconstitutional and “destabilizes local funding, threatening essential services and undermines the will of the local voter regarding local taxes.”

The lawsuit asserts that the Warren County R-III School District includes properties in Warren and Lincoln counties and that based upon the definitions listed in the bill, Warren County meets the definition of a “zero percent county,” while Lincoln meets the definition of a “five percent county.” This means that Warren would be a tax freeze county, while Lincoln would be a tax cap county.

The plaintiff’s complaint alleges that SB 3 creates a property-tax credit scheme that “has and will continue to have a negative fiscal impact on the Warren County R-III School District.”

Klinginsmith reiterated that the district’s position is that the new law is unconstitutional in that it establishes different property tax laws for different counties.

“This (the new law) is putting Warren County at a disadvantage,” he said. “It is applied to us for no real reason.”

Klinginsmith explained that the new law requires an election to freeze property taxes before the zero percent tax increase could go into effect. If this were to occur, he noted that the district stands to lose $400,000 in revenues next year and would never see additional revenues for the district again.

He noted that as expenses continue to rise for districts across the state, the lack of being able to raise additional funds could have substantial catastrophic effects on the district.

He said the district’s belief is that every county should be the same across the state as it pertains to property tax laws.

The plaintiff’s complaint alleges in part that the new bill violates Article X, Section the of the Missouri Constitution which provides: “Taxes may be levied and collected for public purposes only, and shall be uniform upon the same class or subclass of subjects within the territorial limits of the authority levying the tax.”

Plaintiffs assert in part that districts such as Warren County R-III, which included taxpayers who live in counties that are classified as five percent and zero percent, may result in disparate treatment of otherwise similarly situated taxpayers because certain taxpayers for a single district may reside in political subdivisions that cover multiple counties— counties that may be subject to different property tax credit schemes under the bill. The result is that the tax imposed by any district will differ among district taxpayers depending on the county in which they reside, the plaintiffs allege.

Plaintiffs also allege that the provisions of the bill violate the equal protection clause of the Missouri Constitution as taxpayers in different counties will be treated differently and will be entitled to certain tax benefits that those in non-cap counties will not receive.